Singing in the rain.....

Got caught in the rain on the way back from Rushmore (aka the Faces) to Sturgis via Deadwood.. Wasn't too hard a rain, but was def cold, consistent, and I wasn't prepared clothing wise. Bike is now filthy, but its all smiles as we head into downtown Sturgis to scope the scene....

Mount Crushmore...

Very cool place...
See photos.

Some pics of the nasty storm we would soon be riding through...  :)

At a rest stop on the way to Mt Rusmore

Just sitting on the front porch....

Feeling like a real country boy this morning...
Just sitting on the front porch of the hotel in the middle of South Dakota, watching the time go by.
Except that I'm waiting to go on a ride to Mt. Rushmore and I'm staring out into the parking lot a bunch of bikes that are all worth $50k+....
Just your average Sunday at Sturgis!

Morning of Day 2....

After a quiet night at the hotel, I was up early and decided to go for a ride.
It's chilly here in the morning, in the 50's, so its nice and crisp....great weather for a cruise.
I took the ride out of Spearfish, toward Belle Fourche, hit a wild fog patch between Belle & Newell.
Then snuck back down past the Broken Spoke campground and the Buffalo Chip.
Through downtown Sturgis (packed at 915am on opening day), and back towards Spearfish. All told about 90 miles this morning before breakfast, which makes me happy.
Just housed a hearty midwestern breakfast and we are gearing up for a big day ride.
We are headed out to mt. Rushmore, prob a 4 hour ride out and back...

Some photos below from my ride this morning...

First day, first ride....

After some messing about at the hotel, we finally got settled in. One bloody mary to calm my nerves, and we finally get a look at the bikes! We are unloaded about 2pm, and ready to hit the road.

We head out of the friendly confines of our Holiday Inn, and hit the road in search of lunch. Our destination is Spearfish Canyon Roadhouse...my first biker bar! A buffalo bacon burger later, and we are ready to really hit the road.

Spearfish Canyon is our first ride. We take that through Cheyenne Crossing, and then on to Deadwood.  Yes that Deadwood. Cool shit. The bikes are lined up for at least a mile on the main drag. Very cool shit.

I'm outside my 2nd biker bar now, the Stockade, drafting this entry. Don't worry mom, I only had 1 beer.
Note to self...Harley Davidsons, particularly Road Kings and their full "dresser" or "bagger" model, make up about 98% of the iron here...I'm glad I am on my Victory though.

2nd note to self...parking is NOT easy. (See photos.)

First pair of ass-less chaps!!!

On a 60 year old woman....GROSS!
Welcome to Sturgis!

In transit to Sturgis...

There are no flights directly to Sturgis. Actually, there are no flights to Sturgis at all. We need to fly to Rapid City, SD via Minneapolis...
So we're in the airport connecting now, and its quite the mixed crowd heading to Rapid City.
The crowd consists of (in no particular order); plenty of baby boomers, a badass motorcycle crew from NYC - the Queensboro Riders, packs of biker groupie chicks, a few solo travelling "moms" (maybe closet biker chicks?), some poser CA looking dude who's actually from PA, a slew of lumberjack looking hillbilly types, several people who seem to be going to work ( models, trade show guys, product people) this thing like the cash cow it must be, and just a bunch of regular old Midwestern white bread Americans prob just moving from square state to square state...
Also some interesting attire in the mix; Ed Hardy, Monarchy, leather vests, ass-less chaps, and even an old Von Dutch shirt have all been spotted and seem to be the prominent dress code. ....that and tattoos from elbow to wrist.
Well, the trip is still young, you never know what could happen.
Next stop - South Dakota.